Cohen to return to Kilmainham

Leonard Cohen returns to play two concerts at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham this September - the same venue at which he was reduced to tears by the warmth of the audience's response at a series of shows in 2008.

The acclaimed 77-year-old singer songwriter singles out those Kilmainham shows from four years ago as the most memorable he has ever played.

He had been absent from public life for the best part of 10 years when he began a comeback series of concerts in 2008 and was so overwhelmed by his first appearance in Ireland in decades that he recalls "the reception was so warm (at IMMA) that tears came to my eyes and I thought "I can't be seen weeping at this point", then I turned around and saw the guitar player weeping".

Cohen has a special affinity with Ireland having had an Irish nanny growing up in Montreal.

"I was brought up part Irish Catholic because of her," he said.

His greatest literary hero is WB Yeats. At a show in Lissadell in Sligo two years he took time to travel around Yeats country and says he was deeply moved by his visit. "It was a huge thing for me," he said.

Earlier this year he released his first new studio album in eight years, Old Ideas. He has been performing consistently for the past four years after leaving behind his life in a Zen Buddhist retreat. A few years ago it emerged that his bank account had all but been cleared out by an ex-manager.

For those lucky enough to have seen him play at Kilmainham in 2008, the shows were magical and memorable affairs - and still deeply treasured by Cohen himself. "What I witnessed was soul inspiring on every level, I have never been so moved by a performance, everything about the night was magical," he has said about the Kilmainham concerts.

One of the greatest songwriters of his generation, Cohen's work has been covered by acts such U2, REM, Nick Cave, Jeff Buckley and Johnny Cash with songs such as Suzanne and Hallelujah remaining firm fan favourites.

Tickets for the two dates on September 11th and 12th, priced €79.50, go on sale this Friday, March 30th, on Ticketmaster.